


One Night Only

by applecup



Series: Fragments of a Fallen Empire [2]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F, KOTET Spoilers, implied semi mutual crushing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 08:11:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11009439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/applecup/pseuds/applecup
Summary: Eirnhaya Illte found herself stranded in the middle of the Kaas jungles, with a wounded Empress and a whole lot of rain. What's a girl to do?





	One Night Only

Everything about coming to Kaas had been a bad idea. 

Eirn had known it would end poorly from the moment Acina had proposed it - but she’d gone along with the plan, the part of her that she’d left behind here (that had been snatched from her by fate and Vitiate) tugging her back to Imperial space like a misaligned homing beacon. She’d been hoping for- well, she shouldn’t have hoped, she knew that much, and had only thus far been disappointed. 

And now Acina had been badly wounded, and the only person for kilometres around she could rely on was herself. _Fuck_. 

‘It’s nothing,’ Acina was insisting - trying to insist, ever the Sith. 'Wrath- Commander- We need to keep going. Not…’ 

Eirn was neither of those things, and resented Acina’s insistence she was, even if it was a resentment that she buried, for now. There were more important things to worry about, like the mess the older Sith was making with her blood. 

'Empress,’ she replied - not cowed by the woman in the slightest, 'You’re _bleeding_.  I’m no medic,’ she added, 'But you need kolto, and rest.’ As did she, though it was Acina’s wounds that concerned her. 

At least the- what had they called themselves, again? Geno-something? - the mercenaries who’d attacked them were well supplied, even if they were also idiots. Trying to kill one, if not _two_ , of the most powerful Sith on the planet with- blaster rifles? Eirn was actually insulted, and she didn’t usually stoop to caring about such things. 

'Empress,’ Eirn added, 'We can take shelter in their camp. They’ll probably have- medical supplies and food we can use.’ She wasn’t foolish enough to think that the rain might let up - why would Acina drag her here in the _wet_ season, of all things? - but it was almost nightfall, and Eirn disliked the Kaas jungles at night even more than she disliked them during the day. 

'Very well,’ Acina sighed - not arguing, and- even flagging, just a little. And then, rather abruptly, a lot. 

\- 

Acina wasn’t the only one who needed patching up, though Eirn managed to attend to both of them; she’d only picked up a little first aid from Malavai, but Havoc’s medic had been training her, at her request. She declined to tell Acina that part, of course - she doubted somewhat the Sith Empress would appreciate knowing that she owed a Republic soldier. 

'I must admit,’ Acina mused, 'I haven’t had an expedition quite like this since I was an apprentice.’ 

'Then you’re extremely lucky, Empress,’ Eirn sighed - running around in the muck being shot at over other people’s problems summed up her term as Wrath nicely - and most of her unwanted career with the Alliance, too. 'But I suppose that’s a perk of… your positions.’ 

They were holed up in one of the tents that had survived the fighting - Eirn had found them a heater, and what appeared to the Republic MREs that Acina had been at least as dubious about as Eirn. Not that Eirn particularly felt the cold - actually quite the opposite, but between the rain and nightfall, Acina hadn’t fared as well. 

(At least, Eirn reflected, she’d managed to get the Empress to sit down and cooperate for long enough to patch her up; Emp- _Force_ only knew what would have happened if she’d dragged Acina back half-dead, or for that matter, not at all) 

'On the contrary, Wrath,’ Acina replied - smiling to herself, a little sleepily, 'It’s been… exhilarating. Being Empress- even being on the Council, is all well and good, but… facing the elements, facing an enemy instead of having to always watch your back…’ 

'Believe me, Empress,’ Eirn sighed, 'The novelty wears off quickly.’ Especially when you had a squatter in your head - as much as he’d kept blissfully to himself, of late. 

Acina chuckled at that - before failing quite entirely to suppress a yawn. 

'Get some rest, Empress,’ Eirn added - suppressing a yawn herself, and wishing that the Geno-idiots had brought more comfortable equipment with them. 

Acina had nothing smart to say to that; Eirn, in truth, was more than a little relieved. 

\- 

Eirn woke with a start, the next morning - tried to place the noise that had woken her, and - what felt like several hours later - realised it was the Kaas City dawn chorus, a noise she’d never gotten used to, even when she’d lived there. Tried to work out why various parts of her had gone numb, and realised she’d passed out still curled against Acina; realised, at that, that Acina wasn’t just curled against her, but during the night had stretched and shifted, not so much sitting next to Eirn as lying with her head on Eirn’s lap, her arms curled around Eirn’s (extremely numb) legs. 

_Well, this isn’t awkward._

Acina was out like a light, and had apparently made herself quite comfortable in Eirn’s lap. It was entirely at odds with everything Eirn had ever concluded about the woman; then again, she reflected, their previous encounters had always been business. Acina wanting Eirn’s help; Eirn wanting Acina’s, and attempting to acquire it in a way that didn’t make Eirn indebted to her. Sith playing Sith power games. 

Seeing the older woman like this, though (and she was just a woman, in this moment, not the haughty, frequently distant, Sith Lord) - sound asleep, and- _vulnerable_ , with it- 

_She trusts me._ And then: _After all this time, she still…?_

\- 

When Acina did wake, of course, it was not the stuff of storybooks. 

'Wrath?’ she managed, sleepily - blinked uncertainly at Eirn, who - Eirn realised, rather belatedly - had been absent-mindedly staring at the older woman (contemplating her; thinking about the last time they’d met and spoken - not over the holo, but in person, face-to-face). 

'Empress,’ Eirn replied - deciding to push ahead as though nothing about this was abnormal or inappropriate. 'Did you sleep well?’ 

Acina just closed her eyes, again - Eirn could almost _hear_ the other Sith counting to ten before she opened her eyes again and, no, Eirn was still there, and smiling a little impishly, this time. 

'All things considered,’ Acina replied, after a moment - before sitting, stiffly - hissing a little as she did so, before trying to pretend she’d made no discomforted noise at all. 'You, Wrath?’ 

_Well, I may never use my legs again. But aside from that._

'Well enough,’ she replied, 'Thank you, Empress.’ She paused, and added, 'I’ll- get us something to eat, and- check your bandages, but we should probably move out as soon as possible.’ 

'Agreed.’ Acina was apparently in no rush to linger; though, Eirn supposed, she had an Empire to run. To get back to running. 

'And- Empress?’ Eirn added - as she stretched her legs, slowly massaging the feeling back into them. 

'Wrath?’ Acina looked at her - glanced at her, not quite the Empress herself, yet, even leaving aside her mussed and tangled hair. 

'It’s- Eirn. Not- Wrath, or- Commander. Just Eirn,’ she managed - just her, without the masks that other people kept trying to push onto her - that she’d even worn, reluctantly, as though doing so might ever not end badly. 

Acina didn’t get it, for half a moment - and then she did, smiling in a way that did not become the Empress of the Sith. 'Eirn, then,’ she replied - her pronunciation not quite there, but she made a better effort than most. 'I admit that part of me will be sorry when this- adventure is over,’ she confessed, 'But… I am very much looking forward to a long, hot bath, after all of this.’ 

'One of the many perks of civilisation,’ Eirn just replied - hot bubble baths, and _no, Eirn, don’t start fantasising, focus_

'Of course,’ Acina added, apparently finally slipping back into _politician_ mode, 'Should you choose to ally with the Empire, we would share all of our resources.’ Or not; when she smiled, it was with a deliberate sort naughtiness that put Eirn in the mind of bouquets of purple flowers, and other such unsubtleties. 

'I will keep that in mind,’ Eirn just demurred, refusing to give the Sith a solid answer just yet - and reminding herself, at that, that Acina was still _Sith_ , 'Empress.’

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a prompt response on tumblr (Outlander!Eirn and Acina, non sexual intimacy, falling asleep with head in lap)


End file.
